Hugh Grant honoured with Stanely Kubrick Britannia Award

Story by: Jack Foley

POPULAR British actor, Hugh Grant, is cockahoop after
being awarded the prestigious Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award
by Bafta/LA (the US arm of the British film and TV academy) at
a ceremony in Los Angeles earlier this month (November 2003).

The accolade, which recognises excellence in film, was presented
to the 43-year-old star by Sandra Bullock, his co-star in this
years romantic comedy, Two
Weeks Notice.

Grant is currently in the US promoting his latest British comedy,
Love Actually, in which
he finds himself playing the British Prime Minister, who falls
in love with his tea-lady (Martine McCutcheon).

The film, which opens in the UK on November 21, stars a veritable
whos who of British actors (Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Bill
Nighy and Alan Rickman) and has already opened to positive reviews
in the States.

Guests at Grants ceremony included Michael York, Robin
Williams and Jennifer Connelly, while Bullock confessed to being
a little jealous whenever she is around him, because,
for the most part, he is egoless, self-deprecating and unbelievably
smart and talented.

"Hes gifted and I don't think he knows how gifted
he is," she added, furthering the praise she bestowed upon
him at the London press conference for Two Weeks Notice.

Grant, who is best known for his roles in Bridget
Jones Diary, Notting Hill and, of course, Four Weddings
and a Funeral, described the award as very very nice and
unusual for me and added that he doesn't really get many
prizes, but when I do, I'm cockahoop.

Despite a reputation for playing the caddish fop in romantic
comedy dramas (About A Boy
is another popular one), Grant has occasionally taken on more
serious roles, including The Remains of the Day, Maurice and Roman
Polanski's Bitter Moon. He is currently filming the sequel to
Bridget Jones.

The Stanley Kubrick Award is presented in memory of the late
director and previous winners have included Sir Michael Caine,
Sir Anthony Hopkins and director, Martin Scorsese.

Bafta/LA nominated Grant for the award because his talent
and keen intelligence has distinguished him as one of the best
and brightest in contemporary cinema.

Of the other winners at the LA-based ceremony, Australian director,
Peter Weir, whose films include Gallipoli and The Truman Show,
and whose forthcoming Russell Crowe epic, Master
and Commander: The Far Side of the World, opens at the end
of the month, was presented with the first John Schlesinger Britannia
Award for Excellence in Artistic Achievement, while Murder She
Wrote star, Angela Lansbury, was awarded a lifetime achievement
award.